back to index2015-08-16 Take Care
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And as you make your way over there, I want to recap. 00:00:09.160 |
Two weeks ago we started the study here in Chapter 8, verses 1 through 3. 00:00:14.140 |
And I made mention that the church sometimes has a lot of issues. 00:00:17.920 |
And the particular issue at hand for the Church of Corinth, among the many, was the fact that 00:00:27.500 |
There are foods and meat offered to idols in their culture. 00:00:35.620 |
There was a group of people in the church who said, "It's nothing. 00:00:39.200 |
Those wood idols are nothing, represents nothing. 00:00:45.520 |
And the others are saying, "No, it really bothers us. 00:00:48.840 |
It's associated with things that aren't right. 00:00:52.440 |
Not only do I not want to do it, I think it's wrong." 00:00:56.040 |
Obviously, perhaps some of the people who were there for a long time, or perhaps some 00:00:59.960 |
individual who had a relationship with Apostle Paul wrote a letter saying, "This is what's 00:01:06.240 |
We really believe that it's okay to eat meat." 00:01:08.640 |
And Apostle Paul, I made the case that he responded with, "Listen, it's not enough for 00:01:14.120 |
you to make a decision just based on your knowledge. 00:01:17.040 |
It's not enough for you to just make a decision based on the facts. 00:01:22.640 |
And so I made the case that your knowledge cannot be in a vacuum, but it needs to end 00:01:29.680 |
There's a case where in which you need, in every case, you need to evaluate, understand 00:01:34.200 |
what's going on, but understand who you're talking to. 00:01:38.680 |
Big blanket statement, everything, typically doesn't help. 00:01:41.960 |
Now there's a case, there's a time for when there is an objective truth to be met, yes, 00:01:47.460 |
we need to stand ground, we need to make sure it's right. 00:01:49.560 |
But then this situation was not so much clear cut, was it? 00:01:53.600 |
So I made mention of the fact that I felt like Apostle Paul as a spiritual father, he 00:01:59.120 |
was instructing us as his children, giving us wisdom. 00:02:01.720 |
This is how you decide and make choices, the right choices in this environment. 00:02:04.920 |
And he encouraged us and said, "Do it in love. 00:02:10.120 |
Let's take a look at the passage that we have today. 00:02:12.640 |
And I'm going to read the whole section, so verses one through 13. 00:02:18.240 |
It says, "Now concerning the things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. 00:02:26.520 |
If anyone supposes he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know. 00:02:34.480 |
Therefore, considering the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is 00:02:38.120 |
no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. 00:02:43.140 |
For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are 00:02:46.680 |
many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are 00:02:53.120 |
all things and we exist for Him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we 00:03:00.680 |
However, not all men have this knowledge, but some, being accustomed to the idol until 00:03:05.400 |
now, eat food as if it were sacrifice to an idol, and their conscience being weak as to 00:03:13.040 |
We are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. 00:03:17.180 |
But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the 00:03:23.440 |
For if someone sees you who have knowledge dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, 00:03:28.600 |
if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? 00:03:32.780 |
For through your knowledge, he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ 00:03:38.360 |
And so by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, 00:03:43.920 |
Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will 00:03:52.960 |
Father God, we thank you for your truth, we thank you for your word. 00:03:56.720 |
God, as your scripture has instructions on not only spiritual matters of belief, but 00:04:03.680 |
how we are to behave, how we are to make decisions, I pray that in every single way, we would 00:04:09.480 |
desire to be faithful to you, that in sincerity of faith, Lord, we would take your directives, 00:04:17.560 |
We thank you for your truth that's in Christ, and we pray, amen. 00:04:21.480 |
So again, I am really impressed by people, like I mentioned the last time, who can make 00:04:28.640 |
strong decisions and they can make them fast. 00:04:31.560 |
There are people who are just gifted at, you ask them, what do we do? 00:04:42.240 |
Now along with being able to make a decision, I really like it when somebody is able to 00:04:49.960 |
Meaning they know what matters, okay, in making a decision. 00:04:53.920 |
Now I noticed that in the summer, a lot of people moved, okay? 00:04:57.080 |
A lot of youth collegians moved, a lot of people, you know, moved homes and purchased 00:05:05.960 |
And it's evident that all this is happening because our brewing coupon page is like going 00:05:10.520 |
There's so much happening on that, there's so much action. 00:05:13.200 |
And what happens is a lot of times you have to decide, what do I keep and what do I throw 00:05:20.400 |
Like we have so much junk, but do I keep this? 00:05:26.860 |
But when you look at the scenario, you have to use certain criteria in order to decide. 00:05:37.560 |
If it's worth it, if I can sell it on eBay, then let's keep it, you know? 00:05:40.900 |
But if it's not worth it, if I sell it and all I get is a dollar, then I'm just going 00:05:43.360 |
to give it to somebody and there you go, a brewing coupon page. 00:05:46.720 |
There's a lot of good stuff on the brewing coupon. 00:05:49.040 |
The thing about it is though, I had a hard time this past month trying to decide, man, 00:05:56.000 |
And Bia and I both like, you know, we kind of have that Korean mentality of like, dude, 00:06:00.400 |
if we can wash it and keep it, just keep it, you know? 00:06:03.320 |
But there are other reasons why you would keep something. 00:06:11.800 |
One day I'm going to use this, you know, three years down the line. 00:06:16.460 |
And so there was actually a moment when I was holding this little bag and I was sitting 00:06:19.320 |
in front of, you know, in the kitchen and whatnot. 00:06:21.880 |
And I just sat there thinking, keep it, not keep it. 00:06:26.560 |
And I was just like, like, you know, killing myself trying to decide, should I not keep 00:06:37.960 |
It's just a piece of plastic that you use to tie together a wire, you know, or something 00:06:42.800 |
You can buy like a hundred of those for like a dollar. 00:06:45.800 |
And I live right next to Home Depot, so I could just run over and get some more, you 00:06:51.600 |
And then, you know, for a lot of you guys, it's easy because you're like, just keep everything, 00:07:00.640 |
Sometimes it just doesn't matter if it's a zip tie, does it? 00:07:05.720 |
And the reason why I bring that up is because Apostle Paul, he's writing this to a church 00:07:11.120 |
that's chock full of issues of pride, dissension, arrogance, competing with each other, licentiousness, 00:07:18.080 |
immorality of some of the worst kinds and perversions. 00:07:25.440 |
Can you imagine from a leader's perspective, receiving perhaps what I presume to be quite 00:07:31.640 |
a long argumentation like, let me tell you why we should be able to eat this, you know? 00:07:37.720 |
There's a sense in which perhaps Apostle Paul is thinking, oh my God, I just, you know, 00:07:44.680 |
I just need to talk to you about what really matters here. 00:07:48.520 |
And the more I read this chapter in chapter eight, I realized this is a part of a bigger 00:07:54.000 |
This is a part of a bigger argument that Apostle Paul is making. 00:07:56.400 |
And I made the mention that chapter eight does not stand alone. 00:07:59.800 |
Chapter eight, its argument goes all the way to the end of chapter 10. 00:08:07.480 |
But I want to start off by saying there's a sense in which when you care for something, 00:08:11.480 |
there's a sense in which when you're trying to do anything, there's always a priority 00:08:19.480 |
So today's sermon is going to be based on Apostle Paul's thought of what matters in 00:08:26.560 |
Let's take a look really quickly, chapter eight, verse eight. 00:08:30.360 |
And I'm going to give you the first header, okay? 00:08:34.000 |
The verse reads like this, "But food will not commend us to God. 00:08:38.000 |
We are neither the worst if we do eat it, nor the better if we do." 00:08:42.560 |
So if we don't eat it, we're not better or we're not worse. 00:08:45.720 |
If we do eat it, we're not any better or any worse. 00:08:52.040 |
It's like when you do it and there's nothing, then it doesn't matter. 00:08:59.120 |
So heading number one is this, food does not matter, but what matters is the one true God. 00:09:07.720 |
If you're taking notes, please write all of that. 00:09:09.080 |
I know it's a long heading, but you need all those words. 00:09:11.960 |
Food does not matter, but what matters is the one true God. 00:09:18.760 |
It's because in verse four through six, he makes a theological affirmation, meaning he's 00:09:24.800 |
responding to the letter of the Corinthian church and he is affirming something, but 00:09:29.200 |
that theological truth is so emphatic, we have to pay attention. 00:09:34.400 |
Verse four, it says this, "Therefore, concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, 00:09:41.560 |
we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world and that there is no God 00:09:54.800 |
If there is one God, all these thousands of other gods, these idols, the wooden figures, 00:10:05.200 |
None of it is real because we believe there's only one. 00:10:09.000 |
And then he continues, "For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on 00:10:13.520 |
earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, according to their culture and custom, 00:10:18.840 |
Yet for us there is but one God, the Father from whom all things, and we exist for him, 00:10:25.640 |
and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things, and we exist through him." 00:10:32.160 |
Now what I'd like to do is, if you're taking notes, you have to take notes here, okay? 00:10:37.920 |
Because this is almost like a side note, but it's so pivotal to the rest of the sermon, 00:10:47.240 |
You know how the doctrine of the Trinity has various statements? 00:10:50.560 |
We believe one true God, there's three persons, each person is fully God. 00:10:56.600 |
It's not like they're one third God, one third God, one third God, and you piece them together, 00:10:59.600 |
and the pie makes the whole, you know, each piece of the pie makes the whole pizza, you 00:11:06.300 |
Well, what's really interesting about here is he starts off by saying this, "There's 00:11:12.360 |
End of verse four, "There is no God but one." 00:11:17.960 |
Statement number two, notice what he says here about God the Father. 00:11:23.080 |
He says in verse six, "But there is one God, the Father." 00:11:27.160 |
So number two looks like this, "One God equals Father." 00:11:35.320 |
He says, "And one Lord, Jesus Christ," right? 00:11:41.320 |
Now you might be thinking, "Huh, okay, I see what you're going at. 00:11:50.440 |
Well, I want you to think about that in context with what's happening. 00:11:54.560 |
If you go in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter six, verse four, this sentence structure in 00:12:01.000 |
many ways has affinity and similarity to what Moses says in Deuteronomy chapter six, verse 00:12:09.760 |
I'm not going to read verses one through five, but go to Deuteronomy. 00:12:12.680 |
And as you go there, I want to remind you that Deuteronomy is such a pivotal book in 00:12:17.200 |
It is the second law, meaning it's the review of the law. 00:12:20.200 |
Moses is telling the people, "This is what God wants of you. 00:12:25.040 |
This is what you needed to do in your life before the Lord, in the presence of God." 00:12:30.160 |
Verse one, chapter six, verse one, "Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments 00:12:34.380 |
which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land 00:12:39.080 |
where you are going over to possess, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear 00:12:43.720 |
the Lord your God to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, 00:12:48.400 |
all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 00:12:51.960 |
O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and 00:12:58.160 |
that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised 00:13:05.680 |
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. 00:13:11.440 |
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all 00:13:18.720 |
It's called the Shema because in Hebrew, that line in verse four, "Hear, O Israel," is an 00:13:25.040 |
In the Hebrew, it sounds like, "Shema Yisrael." 00:13:28.940 |
And that is the tag that the Israelites used in all of their services and all their, you 00:13:34.880 |
know, synagogue meetings and prayer meetings and worship and sacrifices. 00:13:39.040 |
As a matter of fact, in the culture, the Jewish people prayed twice in the morning and in 00:13:44.240 |
the evening, and do you know what they opened with? 00:13:52.080 |
Contrary to the pagan nations of the day, contrary to the rest of the world, where they 00:13:56.280 |
worship everything from the moon, the sun, the ground, the cows, and the animals, we 00:14:04.560 |
That's the first thing they said and the last thing they said. 00:14:12.080 |
If you go over just in your Bibles, just to Deuteronomy chapter 10, and if you, I'm gonna 00:14:23.120 |
It says, "Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you but to fear the 00:14:28.560 |
Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with 00:14:33.840 |
all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes, 00:14:38.000 |
which I am commanding you today for your good? 00:14:40.920 |
Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all 00:14:47.240 |
Yet on your fathers did the Lord set His affection to love them, and He chose or descended after 00:14:51.840 |
them even you above all peoples, as it is this day. 00:14:55.480 |
So circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no longer. 00:14:59.040 |
For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, 00:15:17.440 |
And if you would go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 8, look at the sentence structure 00:15:23.720 |
I never realized that this passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 8, talking about food, Apostle Paul 00:15:29.920 |
would put in a theological statement that's perhaps one of the most explicit statements 00:15:40.320 |
He says, "There is one God, God the Father, and it describes Him, the one from whom are 00:15:55.200 |
So this is like a Christological monotheistic statement. 00:16:13.800 |
Is he just saying, "Yeah, yeah, people, I understand what you're saying. 00:16:21.160 |
I think Apostle Paul is emphasizing this thing, "You know, I see an issue. 00:16:26.240 |
I see an issue with the way you guys are thinking. 00:16:30.160 |
Because you are telling me in your argumentation, 'Hey, we can eat because there's one God.' 00:16:34.440 |
But for you, the emphasis is, the application of this theology that God is one is, 'So 00:16:55.520 |
Beautiful theology, connecting Old Testament truth of how God is the Lord, he is the Lord 00:17:00.840 |
God, God of gods, the Lord your God who brought you out. 00:17:04.160 |
He's connected with Christ, our Lord, our Savior. 00:17:07.360 |
And the oneness that exists in them now has application to, "And now we can eat?" 00:17:24.240 |
Because in their making much of the eating and the food, they neglect the weightier issue. 00:17:30.760 |
The weightier issue is that people are debating idolatry. 00:17:39.440 |
The weightier issue isn't, "Oh, it's just, can we eat and eat or not?" 00:17:45.280 |
There's a passage in the Bible that says, "If you're vegan, you are weak." 00:17:51.800 |
There's a passage in the book of Romans that talks about this whole idea. 00:17:56.200 |
There are those individuals who are struggling, just like in the church of Corinth, in the 00:18:00.480 |
church of Rome, they're struggling with the same idea. 00:18:04.520 |
Remember that I told you last time that this is not just an isolated event. 00:18:08.200 |
For us, we might be thinking, "This is not even a big issue to us." 00:18:11.840 |
For us, we might be thinking, "Yeah, I think I know that one guy who used to go to this 00:18:15.160 |
one cult and he considers stuff like days, one day better than another day. 00:18:23.680 |
And you might be thinking, "This is a pretty isolated event." 00:18:30.880 |
Just about every single person deals with this issue. 00:18:35.080 |
There are people who recently converted and they're very accustomed to that culture of 00:18:42.400 |
There weren't really atheists who said there was absolutely no god. 00:18:45.640 |
Even if they didn't believe in one particular god, they just still were agnostic and said, 00:18:49.480 |
"I worship and offer sacrifices to some god." 00:18:53.360 |
Remember I said that in social environments, in workplace environments, they would run 00:18:58.920 |
Wedding ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, any big event, any big commemoration of anything, 00:19:03.560 |
maybe an academic achievement, would have been involved, perhaps, thanks to a god. 00:19:12.760 |
Apostle Paul is almost saying, "If you cared for truly the theology of the one true god, 00:19:25.960 |
But now you're more concerned about the food. 00:19:28.880 |
If you really cared about the one true god who has this oneness between god the father 00:19:33.480 |
and the son, wouldn't you care about the unity? 00:19:40.200 |
You care too much about the food and not so much about being careful. 00:19:46.000 |
I mean, if you believe in a god almighty, if you believe, just like the Jews did, in 00:19:50.840 |
this one true lord, the god of gods, elevated amongst all any deities that people would 00:19:57.160 |
lift it up, and he is the lord of lords, how careful should you be about offending that 00:20:10.760 |
Because that's going to be a theme of what I'm going to be talking about today. 00:20:16.480 |
Not just insignificant matters, like I mentioned earlier. 00:20:25.200 |
If it's a family heirloom album, it's another. 00:20:28.280 |
But the thing about it is, the way you care for one and the other should be very different. 00:20:44.200 |
So number one was, food does not matter, but what matters is the one true god. 00:20:50.920 |
His next train of thought is number two, there exists a threat of objective idolatry and 00:21:01.680 |
So number two is, there exists a threat of objective idolatry and subjective idolatry. 00:21:11.920 |
Well there is obviously objective idolatry in the sense that, okay, if you imagine objective 00:21:18.240 |
idolatry, to be objective is there is a standard that is independent of personal feelings, 00:21:26.400 |
There's just this independent standard that applies to all. 00:21:30.640 |
So yeah, if you say, "I offer this to you, Molech." 00:21:34.760 |
No matter what you say, you could swear like, "I didn't mean it, I didn't mean to do it." 00:21:38.720 |
You can say whatever you want, but objectively you worship the idol, right? 00:21:43.560 |
But what are we talking about in terms of this case? 00:21:46.680 |
We're not talking about clear cut, biblically wrong, standard of God, you offended the Lord, 00:21:53.360 |
you transgressed, that kind of stuff here, are we? 00:21:56.200 |
We're really talking about subjective idolatry, meaning perhaps in the eyes of others, perhaps 00:22:02.560 |
in the perspective of the community, they don't see it necessarily something wrong. 00:22:06.760 |
But if in your own mind, you associate that with something wrong, if your own conscience 00:22:17.520 |
But then you decide, "I'm going to do it anyway." 00:22:24.000 |
So if you go back, he says in verse seven, "However, not all men have this knowledge, 00:22:27.360 |
but some being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were a sacrifice to 00:22:31.880 |
an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled." 00:22:37.720 |
So I asked earlier, I made mention of this, that the weak individual in this passage, 00:22:46.400 |
he's not the person who is lacking knowledge. 00:22:49.440 |
He's not the person who just doesn't happen to know. 00:22:51.920 |
To tell you honestly, sometimes that's how I feel. 00:22:54.720 |
I feel weak in my mind because I don't know what to do. 00:22:59.720 |
Someone asked me a question about counseling, it's like, "Duh, I'll have to get back 00:23:05.440 |
If my wife asks me, "What should we do about this? 00:23:06.920 |
Some family issue, parenting issue, how to discipline our kids, and I don't know what 00:23:12.240 |
Yes, I feel weak, but that's not the kind of weakness that this particular passage is 00:23:18.440 |
Although that is a kind of weakness referenced in Romans chapter 14, that's not the kind 00:23:25.400 |
This is talking about the weakness when you know what is right and wrong, but your heart 00:23:34.040 |
And can I ask you, have you personally ever been in that situation? 00:23:46.880 |
Because every single one of us wrestles with issues. 00:23:51.640 |
"Pastor Paul, if I say no to this food, then they're going to reject me. 00:23:57.600 |
If I say no to this food, I might potentially actually offend a higher official. 00:24:02.200 |
Typically the people who are putting out food, they're not just poor people, they're probably 00:24:06.200 |
And if I reject the food, then what's going to happen to me?" 00:24:16.000 |
I want the people who are above me to think I'm doing a good job. 00:24:22.200 |
A temptation to do something against my conscience. 00:24:31.920 |
You know before, two weeks ago, I made the exhortation that sometimes you need to make 00:24:42.560 |
You know certain things, you have knowledge of certain things, you know what's wise, and 00:24:45.880 |
you feel like you should do something and something seems really practical. 00:24:49.920 |
But against that practicality is the condition of love, right? 00:24:56.640 |
Sometimes you need to make a decision simply on the fact that you have to, you have to 00:25:06.520 |
Do you notice the words that he used in this passage to talk about the guilty conscience? 00:25:10.920 |
The conscience that goes against what he knows to be right? 00:25:14.520 |
He talks about it as the conscience being defiled. 00:25:19.400 |
He talks about the weak person being destroyed. 00:25:21.760 |
In other passages, again I keep referencing Romans chapter 14, we're going to read over 00:25:25.920 |
He talks about the individual literally being destroyed as in pummeled. 00:25:30.640 |
Because when you feel like something is right, but because of other people, because of your 00:25:36.240 |
desires, because of your cravings, whatever the issue is, and you start thinking like 00:25:52.200 |
If you guys have felt this, you know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:25:55.480 |
If your conscience is not clear, your life is in ruin. 00:26:02.920 |
If you go against your conscience, you're rebelling against the probing and the prodding 00:26:07.600 |
of the Holy Spirit, the conviction of God in us. 00:26:14.600 |
And whatever you think of your life, how you interpret your life, how you interpret the 00:26:21.320 |
If you go against your conscience, there's going to be guilt. 00:26:23.360 |
If you go against your conscience, there's going to be uneasiness. 00:26:25.960 |
And now you interpret everything like, "Oh my gosh, is God rebuking me? 00:26:32.200 |
If you do not have a clear conscience, you have no confidence. 00:26:35.580 |
How can you raise your hands and say, "And I lift my holy hands." 00:26:41.440 |
How can you say boldly, "Hey brother, you know what? 00:26:44.880 |
Because you know exactly what they're going to say. 00:26:50.880 |
You can't talk about you should because you ruined and defiled your conscience. 00:26:56.760 |
If you ignore your conscience, you defile it. 00:27:00.160 |
What you do when you go against your faith is you're ruining your conscience. 00:27:06.980 |
So notice, Apostle Paul currently is not endeavoring to simply teach the weak and say, "Hey, hey, 00:27:23.440 |
Let me show you this amazing theology of a Christological monotheism that Christ is God, 00:27:28.640 |
he is Lord, and through him everything was created. 00:27:36.080 |
He's encouraging the weak, "Don't you dare go against your conscience." 00:27:54.000 |
And I'm going to emphasize certain things here. 00:27:56.560 |
I'm going to read verses 1 through 5, and then I'm going to start reading from verse 00:28:07.200 |
He says, "Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing 00:28:13.120 |
So not speaking to the weak people, but speaking to the people who are thinking they're strong. 00:28:18.280 |
He says, "Don't pass judgment on these people." 00:28:20.160 |
He says, "One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables 00:28:26.200 |
The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who 00:28:32.960 |
does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. 00:28:40.480 |
To his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand for the Lord is able to make 00:28:46.400 |
One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. 00:28:52.040 |
Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind." 00:29:06.160 |
If we have a theology, if we have a theology that God is the one true God, then we need 00:29:15.640 |
But here in line also, if there is a threat of idolatry, you need to be really, really 00:29:22.240 |
And if you're not convinced, then can you move on it? 00:29:33.160 |
He said very clearly, he said, you know, "I cannot recant of anything. 00:29:37.720 |
I will not go against my conscience," because he says, "It's neither safe nor right." 00:29:42.980 |
It's neither safe nor right to go against my conscience. 00:29:46.640 |
It's not right because in God's eyes, as he sees that, he's looking at not so much the 00:29:53.760 |
He's looking at your willingness to rebel against your own faith and say, "I'm going 00:30:01.200 |
I wondered, you know, how many of us sometimes do that? 00:30:09.400 |
Sometimes if I can openly confess a little bit, there are times when I know like something 00:30:12.440 |
I shouldn't do and it's maybe something minor, something small, but have you ever done this? 00:30:16.400 |
Like you know that certain people are going to be bothered. 00:30:19.240 |
If you have some people in your life who are clear cut, straight shooters, they're the 00:30:23.280 |
rule meisters, they'll always tell you how it is and I love having those people in my 00:30:26.960 |
life because it always keeps me straight, you know? 00:30:29.720 |
But if you have those people in your life, there's a temptation. 00:30:34.120 |
I know it's going to bother him, so I'm just going to keep it to myself and do it on my 00:30:43.600 |
I know it's going to bother her, so I just keep it low on the down low. 00:30:54.920 |
If there is a threat of subjective sin, subjective idolatry because you want to do something, 00:31:01.160 |
but you know that certain things won't be approved, so what do you do? 00:31:07.040 |
You have to beat up your faith in order to do what you want. 00:31:10.640 |
Apostle Paul is saying there's a bigger issue than just food. 00:31:20.360 |
So Apostle Paul gives this, I think really indirectly, gives this exhortation to those 00:31:28.140 |
It is not just an issue of lack of knowledge. 00:31:36.220 |
It's an issue of a lack of strength, and truly I believe that is where strong decisions are 00:31:41.560 |
I hope that as a young guy for me that I grow in that. 00:31:45.920 |
Apostle Paul says by the exercise of truth, by the practice of righteousness, we mature. 00:31:52.080 |
And I get that because when you make strong decisions, when you make decisions that you 00:31:56.800 |
know to be right in your conscience, then you have a greater confidence to walk and 00:32:05.240 |
But I pray that I grow in that, and I pray that for you. 00:32:13.120 |
Do not ever compromise the thought in your mind, God might not be pleased by this. 00:32:20.280 |
Now, moving to number three then, Apostle Paul gives the exhortation in 1 Corinthians 00:32:27.880 |
He says in 1 Corinthians chapter 8, starting from verse 9, "But take care that this liberty 00:32:39.420 |
of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 00:32:43.400 |
If someone sees you who has knowledge, dining in idols' temples, will not his conscience, 00:32:49.040 |
if he is weak, be strained for him to eat things sacrificed to idols?" 00:32:53.160 |
In other passages it says, "Wouldn't he be emboldened?" 00:32:58.480 |
"For through your knowledge, he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ 00:33:03.600 |
And so by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, 00:33:09.360 |
Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again." 00:33:13.840 |
He said, "I will not cause my brother to stumble." 00:33:18.040 |
I know that in our generation, we don't like having such huge expectations on us. 00:33:24.160 |
It's like, dang, for the Bible to call on us to go and care for the brother to the extent 00:33:36.920 |
He's not calling everybody to give up meat, but he's saying at least be willing to do 00:33:43.040 |
If it causes my brother to stumble, I would give up meat." 00:33:56.320 |
Or I may have you think about that a little bit. 00:33:58.920 |
Do you perhaps think like, "Whoa, that's kind of crazy. 00:34:01.840 |
I mean, if you take that, if you play the devil's advocate, it's like, then I can't 00:34:06.560 |
Because hypothetically, someone might see you, so I can't ever." 00:34:13.080 |
Purposely, I didn't talk about drinking, going to clubs and lounges, tattoos on your body. 00:34:21.560 |
Romans taught us you need to be convinced in your own mind. 00:34:25.040 |
And all these passages about making your decisions wisely about your love, about your knowledge, 00:34:29.680 |
about your clarity of conscience, you apply those things. 00:34:35.080 |
Someone could play the devil's advocate and be like, "So I guess I can't do anything. 00:34:37.720 |
Because if that guy is hurting, if that guy says, 'Oh, that bothers me,' then I just 00:34:45.840 |
To care for the church and the people around you, to care about your image. 00:34:48.920 |
I mean, do I not have to care about my image? 00:34:52.200 |
And I could hear somebody saying, "That's not peace. 00:34:58.040 |
Well, brothers and sisters, if we don't care, what you are is reckless. 00:35:06.080 |
If you don't carry that burden, what you are is careless. 00:35:13.880 |
I have kids, and a lot of times people want to play with my kids. 00:35:17.080 |
And my second one, Emmett, he's really light, so people like to throw him around a little 00:35:21.720 |
And I remember we just went to a birthday party, and someone threw him up, and his head 00:35:30.040 |
And the thing about it is, if I'm carrying something precious, you know, some of you 00:35:38.000 |
guys have, again, precious art pieces you made at home. 00:35:40.680 |
If someone's carrying that, it's okay for you to be like, "Can you be careful with that?" 00:35:45.560 |
If someone's caring for your baby, and they're holding them, you have to be careful. 00:35:49.040 |
And if the parent says, "Can you be careful with that?" 00:35:52.780 |
If you're driving someone's car, and you're not careful, the driver or the owner of the 00:35:58.220 |
car has the right to be like, "Can you please be careful?" 00:36:03.300 |
And the thing about it is, you can't sit there and be like, "Ugh, you're so mean. 00:36:12.820 |
Whenever you're, the fact of the matter is, whenever you hold anything precious, you have 00:36:17.460 |
And Apostle Paul, you potentially can place a stumbling block before the precious children 00:36:27.180 |
There is nothing more precious that is worth the blood of Christ. 00:36:34.300 |
There is nothing as precious as the blood of Christ spilled for us. 00:36:37.980 |
That means you, yes you, are precious in the sight of God, and Apostle Paul believes that. 00:36:45.940 |
So he's exhorting us, the church, "Can you please be careful? 00:36:52.300 |
Can I ask you just to be careful with these children whom Christ died for?" 00:36:59.940 |
He said, "Can you please be careful with these?" 00:37:03.420 |
And if that's a stumbling block to them, guess what for me? 00:37:06.860 |
I'd rather die than be a stumbling block for my kids. 00:37:17.100 |
So if you go over in Romans, he says the same things. 00:37:20.540 |
I'm gonna start reading from verse 13 down to the end. 00:37:24.500 |
He says, "Therefore, let us not judge one another any more, but rather determine this, 00:37:31.420 |
not to put a stumbling block, or an obstacle, or a stumbling block in a brother's way." 00:37:40.940 |
I want you guys to have an application of the truth that God is one, that you guys will 00:37:47.600 |
You guys are fighting each other and fighting each other over food. 00:37:52.440 |
And then he goes on, verse 14, "I know that I am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing 00:37:56.840 |
is unclean and of itself, but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean." 00:38:04.200 |
"For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love, 00:38:09.800 |
do not destroy with your food him whom Christ died." 00:38:16.960 |
Verse 16, "Therefore, do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil. 00:38:22.800 |
For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the 00:38:28.600 |
For he who is this way serves Christ as acceptable to God and approved by men. 00:38:33.760 |
So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. 00:38:39.160 |
Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. 00:38:41.800 |
All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. 00:38:47.080 |
It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or do anything by which your brother stumbles. 00:38:51.280 |
The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. 00:38:55.240 |
Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 00:38:58.640 |
But he who doubts is condemned if he eats because his eating is not from faith and whatever 00:39:10.040 |
I started the sermon by saying whatever the controversial issues in our day, Apostle Paul 00:39:17.280 |
gives certain clear grounds and wisdom principles to decide what to do about it. 00:39:22.820 |
He talks about what's profitable, what's not profitable. 00:39:25.040 |
He talks about what's controlling, what's not controlling. 00:39:27.560 |
He talks about what's going to give us clarity of conscience, what's not going to give us 00:39:31.400 |
He talks about what's going to be really loving and what's going to not be loving. 00:39:34.320 |
He's giving so many different criteria about how we ought to decide. 00:39:39.520 |
And I can almost hear just some of the people still complaining. 00:39:49.200 |
If we don't eat this food, then seriously, we're going to get rejected. 00:39:54.960 |
It might be really hard for me to advance so it's related to my job. 00:40:00.040 |
It might give excuses like, "You know, if we don't eat, then we can't reach out to these 00:40:07.520 |
So it's better not to offend them so that we can reach out." 00:40:30.440 |
But Apostle Paul is pushing for something greater. 00:40:32.920 |
And he's asking, "Are you in this debate arguing with me about food?" 00:40:41.280 |
But the other question is, "Are you pursuing something greater?" 00:40:44.840 |
Earlier, Apostle Paul in Romans chapter, when I read to you that passage in chapter 14, 00:40:49.520 |
he says in verse 19, "So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building 00:40:57.320 |
And if you go in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, he talks about the food offered to idols. 00:41:02.280 |
And he essentially is going to say, "Listen to me. 00:41:12.320 |
Because in verse 23, he says, "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. 00:41:18.080 |
All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 00:41:21.000 |
Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor. 00:41:24.880 |
Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking question for conscience sake. 00:41:29.480 |
For the earth is the Lord's and all that's in it." 00:41:32.920 |
It says, "If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that 00:41:36.360 |
is set before you without asking questions for conscience sake." 00:41:41.040 |
"Whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 00:41:45.960 |
Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God. 00:41:49.560 |
Just as I also please all men and all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit 00:42:01.040 |
Don't argue with me just about what's permissible because then you're not really pursuing the 00:42:08.600 |
All you're doing is holding a zip tie and saying, "Should I or should I not? 00:42:12.800 |
Throw it away and give attention to the things that matter, to the things that's going to 00:42:23.800 |
Consider Him to whom you might potentially commit subjective idolatry. 00:42:36.880 |
Consider your neighbor so important that you would sacrifice, that you would consider what 00:42:42.280 |
you would give up, that you would be so careful. 00:42:53.600 |
Let's be careful with the church that God's given us and primarily the gospel that you 00:42:58.720 |
contain, that you possess, gives you now an obligation to guard against anything, anything 00:43:06.360 |
that will put a stumbling block before the redemption cause of God. 00:43:10.000 |
Let's make sure that we are sober and walking in a way where we place no thorn in the buck, 00:43:14.840 |
but rather it's very clear we are pursuing the greater matters. 00:43:24.680 |
God, we want to first thank you again so much God.